Conclusions and recommendations
of the Committee against Torture, Estonia,
U.N.
Doc. CAT/C/CR/29/5 (2002).

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 19 OF THE CONVENTION
Conclusions and recommendations of the Committee against Torture
Estonia

1. The Committee considered the initial report of Estonia (CAT/C/16/Add.9)
at its 534th, 537th and 545th meetings, held on 14, 15 and 21 November 2002
(CAT/C/SR.534, 537 and 545), and adopted the following conclusions and recommendations.

A. Introduction

2. The Committee welcomes the initial report of Estonia, but regrets that the
report, due on 19 November 1992, was submitted with more than eight years' delay.
It notes, however, that the report includes material up to 2001. The Committee
acknowledges, in this regard, the difficulties encountered by the State party
during its political and economic transition and hopes that in the future it
will comply fully with its obligations under article 19 of the Convention.

3. The report, which contains information mainly on legal provisions and fails
to address in detail the practical implementation of the Convention and the
difficulties encountered in this regard, does not comply fully with the reporting
guidelines of the Committee. However, the Committee acknowledges the extensive
responses to its questions received from the delegation.

B. Positive aspects

4. The Committee notes the following positive developments:

(a) The creation of a Legal Chancellor who also acts in the capacity of an
ombudsman;

(b) The abolition of the death penalty in 1998;

(c) The possible direct applicability, under the Constitution, of the definition
of torture set out in article 1 of the Convention;

(d) The entry into force on 1 September 2002 of the new Penal Code, which introduces
torture as an offence and aims at developing a flexible and individualized penal
system that will increase the possibilities for the rehabilitation of prisoners
by providing them with an opportunity to work or study;

(e) The improvement of prison conditions through, in particular, the suppression
of special punishment cells, the renovation of detention facilities and the
opening of the new Tartu prison, which will conform to recognized international
standards. The Committee also welcomes the entry into force on 1 December 2000
of the Imprisonment Act, based on the "European Prison Rules", as
well as the power given to the Legal Chancellor and members of the Health Protection
Office under the 2000 Internal Rules of Detention to have free access to all
rooms in detention centres;

(f) The publication of the reports of the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and the responses by the State party, which will enable a general
debate by all interested parties;

(g) The commitment of the State party to continue its practice of publishing
the concluding observations of the United Nations treaty bodies, as well as
the reports submitted by Estonia to those bodies, on the web site of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs;

(h) The ratification by the State party on 30 January 2002 of the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court;

(i) The assurance given by the State party that due consideration will be given
to the possible ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

C. Subjects of concern

5. The Committee is concerned that:

(a) Article 1 of the Convention has not yet been directly applied by magistrates,
and that the direct application of international human rights treaties, although
possible in theory, is not widely practised in the courts;

(b) The definition of torture contained in article 122 of the Penal Code as
"continuous physical abuse or abuse which causes great pain" does
not seem to comply fully with article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes
that, according to the delegation, article 122 protects physical as well as
mental health, but is of the opinion that the wording of the article may lead
to restrictive interpretations as well as confusion;

(c) Isolated cases of ill-treatment of detainees by officials still occur in
police stations. Although violence, including sexual violence, between prisoners
in detention facilities and between patients in psychiatric facilities has diminished,
the high risk of such incidents still remains. Conditions in old police detention
centres are still of concern;

(d) The point at which a suspect or detainee can obtain access to a doctor
of choice - assuming one is available at all - is not clear. In any event, there
are legal exceptions to the right to have access to a lawyer and to "a
person of choice" that could be abused by police. In general, no precise
time frame is set for the exercise of the rights of persons detained in police
custody;

(e) Under Estonian law, illegal immigrants and rejected asylum-seekers may
be detained in expulsion centres until deported; such persons may be subjected
to long periods of detention when expulsion is not enforceable;

(f) Persons of Russian nationality and stateless persons (overlapping categories)
are over-represented in the population of convicted prisoners;

(g) No specific body seems to be in charge of collecting data in detention
facilities, whether police stations, prisons, or psychiatric facilities.

D. Recommendations

6. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Incorporate into the Penal Code a definition of the crime of torture that
fully and clearly responds to article 1 of the Convention, and provide extensive
training for judges and lawyers on the content of the Convention as well as
its status in domestic law;

(b) Ensure that law enforcement, judicial, medical and other personnel who
are involved in the custody, detention, interrogation and treatment of detainees
or psychiatric patients are trained with regard to the prohibition of torture
and that their recertification includes both verification of their awareness
of the Convention's requirements and a review of their records in treating detainees
or patients. Training should include developing the skills needed to recognize
the sequelae of torture;

(c) Ensure close monitoring of inter-prisoner and inter-patient violence, including
sexual violence, in detention and psychiatric facilities, with a view to preventing
them;

(d) Continue the renovation of all detention facilities in order to ensure
that they conform to international standards;

(e) Strengthen the safeguards provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure against
ill-treatment and torture, and ensure that, in law as well as in practice, persons
in police custody and in remand have the right of access to a medical doctor
of their choice, the right to notify a person of their choice of their detention
and access to legal counsel. Legal exceptions to these rights should be narrowly
defined. Persons deprived of their liberty, including suspects, should immediately
be informed of their rights in a language that they understand. The right of
criminal suspects to have a defence counsel should be extended to witnesses
and to persons who have not yet been charged. The State party should introduce
a precise chronology that would specify at what point the rights of all detainees
may be exercised and must be respected;

(f) Elaborate a code of conduct for police officers, investigators and all
other personnel involved in the custody of detainees;

(g) Introduce legally enforceable time limits for the detention of illegal
immigrants and rejected asylum-seekers who are under expulsion orders;

(h) Fully examine and report on the reasons for the over-representation of
persons of Russian nationality and stateless persons in the population of convicted
prisoners;

(i) Consider ratifying the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;

(j) Create a mechanism for the collection and analysis of data on matters relating
to the Convention in detention and psychiatric facilities;

(k) Consider making the declarations under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention.

7. The Committee recommends that the State party, in its next periodic report,
which will be considered as the fourth periodic report and should be submitted
by 19 November 2004:

(a) Provide detailed information concerning, in particular: (i) the precise
mandate of and the results of the activities undertaken by the Legal Chancellor
and the members of the Health Protection Office when visiting detention centres;
(ii) the results of the activities of the Legal Chancellor in dealing with complaints
of ill-treatment or torture by State officials;

(b) Explain how, in practice, the impartiality and objectivity of investigations
of complaints of ill-treatment made by persons detained in police custody are
ensured at all times;

(c) Provide statistical data disaggregated, inter alia, by gender, age, nationality
and citizenship, on complaints of torture and ill-treatment by State officials,
on the prosecutions initiated in response, and on the penal and disciplinary
sentences pronounced.

8. The Committee further recommends that the State party widely disseminate
in the country any reports submitted by Estonia to the Committee, the conclusions
and recommendations of the Committee, as well as the summary records of the
review, in appropriate languages, including Estonian and Russian, through official
web sites, the media and non-governmental organizations.